How to complete the Cartel Investigation DMZ mission in MW2
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How to complete the Cartel Investigation DMZ mission in Modern Warfare 2

Taking the fight to Al Mazrah

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With the release of Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0 Season 3, players have plenty of new missions to embark on in DMZ. The latest DMZ mission that have players stumped is the MW2 Cartel Investigation mission.

How to complete the MW2 Cartel Investigation DMZ mission

The MW2 Cartel Investigation DMZ mission in Season 3 is one of the latest challenges for players to tackle. It has some fantastic XP rewards for players, but you must complete all three objectives to enjoy that. Here are the three tasks you must do, which can, technically, be done in any order:

  1. Locate the cartel in Al Mazrah
  2. Eliminate five cartel soldiers
  3. Find and extract two of the large contraband packages

You can complete all three of these in the same DMZ mission, but you are also free to only do one step per visit to Al Mazrah, if you’d like. Here’s what you need to complete all three steps.

How to locate the cartel

Warzone 2 Non Discriminatory Mission DMZ
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First and foremost, the easiest part of the Cartel Investigation is finding the cartel. For this, you have to do this part on the Al Mazrah map, as the cartel NPCs aren’t available on Ashika Island.

When you head to Al Mazrah, you’ll find the cartel in a few different places on the map. Head to any of the following locations and you’ll complete the first objective:

  • Hafid Port
  • Rohan Oil
  • Al Mazrah City
  • Zaya Observatory
  • Sarrif Bay

There are a few smaller locations other than these throughout the DMZ map, too. When you get to one of these spots, look for the large facilities or warehouses there. The cartel NPC enemies will generally be gathered around it.

Where to eliminate cartel soldiers

The second objective in the Cartel Investigation DMZ mission can be done at the same time as the first one. The goal here is to eliminate five of the cartel soldiers. If you just visited one of the cartel locations on the map, this part is simple enough since these soldiers are right near you.

You can note them by their armor and patrols of the facilities where the cartel is based. Make sure to take out five of them — grab a friend if you need to for this part — and you’ll complete the second objective.

Where to find and extract the large contraband packages

Finally, the last part is the hardest challenge in this Cartel Investigation DMZ mission. For this one, you’ll need to find two of the contraband packages in Al Mazrah. Again, this is best done when tackling the other two objectives since it takes place in the same areas.

Wherever you choose to go to find the cartel, head inside one of the warehouses that they are occupying. Search around the warehouse until you find an item, usually on the shelves, that looks like a small box. Hover over it with your aim reticle and it should say “large contraband package.”

Pick it up and then find another one, before extracting from the current DMZ match. If you successfully extract with two of these at once, you’ll complete the final part of the Cartel Investigation mission and earn your XP reward.


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Cody Perez
Contributing Writer - Cody has been a huge fan of Destructoid for more than a decade as well as a freelance writer for various publications. Now working for Destructoid, he has the chance to share his passion for Final Fantasy XIV, Pokemon, Call of Duty, and many more games.